Tagged With "complex health needs"
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Snapshot of ACEs Statutes and Resolutions through end of 2018
The attached table summarizes all of the statutes and passed resolutions that contain the words "Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)" and trauma-informed language through the end of 2018. There are nearly 60 statutes with the earliest law enacted in Washington State in 2011. The laws are categorized by subject matter such health care, education, training, and funding. If you are aware of something we missed, please leave a comment to this post.
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Snapshot of U.S. State Laws and Resolutions
Legislative sessions are opening in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories—most in January—and will be addressing a myriad of issues from budgets, job growth, health care, immigration, the opioid epidemic, police-community relations, education and others ( featured in the State Legislatures Magazine ). Many of these proposals will impact how well communities will prosper and thrive, fewer will impact childhood adversity directly, and an even smaller number will...
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Snapshot of U.S. State Laws and Resolutions
Since the opening in January of many sessions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories, legislatures have addressed a myriad of issues from budgets, job growth, health care, immigration, the opioid epidemic, police-community relations, education and others ( featured in the State Legislatures Magazine ). Many of these proposals will impact how well communities will prosper and thrive, fewer will impact childhood adversity directly, and an even smaller number will...
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South Carolina 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for South Carolina. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input,...
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South Dakota 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for South Dakota. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input,...
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Spending Deal Would End Two-Decade Freeze on Gun Research [usnews.com]
By Associated Press, U.S. News & World Report, December 16, 2019 A bipartisan deal on a government spending bill would for the first time in two decades provide money for federal research on gun safety. A law adopted in the 1990's has effectively blocked such research and prohibits federal agencies from engaging in advocacy on gun-related issues. The spending bill, set for a House vote as soon as Tuesday, would provide $25 million for gun violence research, divided evenly between the...
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State ACE survey reports
The following are links to state reports on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) ACEs module data. Also included at the end of the list are links to the CDC 5-state study and a 10-state plus the District of Columbia study on ACEs...
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State and Federal Support of Trauma-Informed Care: Sustaining the Momentum
Policymakers increasingly recognize the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences on lifelong physical, emotional, and social health and are beginning to support efforts for incorporating trauma-informed care into the health and social service sectors. This new CHCS blog post looks at how proposed state and federal legislative, regulatory, and contracting policies aim to reduce trauma and toxic stress and promote resiliency and trauma-informed practices. It also explores how federal...
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State Budget Fallout: 'A Hurricane That Hits All Over the Country' [Governing]
April 9 The revenue drop from COVID-19 is barely starting to show up in official figures, but already furloughs and major shortfalls are common in state and local governments around the country. The pain may be sudden, but it could last for years. Photo credit: Shutterstock On March 2, Wesley Harper started his new job as executive director of the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities. A few days later, he went to Washington to meet with members of the state’s congressional delegation,...
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STATE HEALTH CARE STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS CHILDREN’S TRAUMA, EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE AND ACEs
I found this document by Futures Without Violence to be a useful resource. From the forward: The health care system plays an important role both in identifying children who may be exposed to extreme adversity and violence, currently and in the past, and in providing the evidence-based interventions that can help children heal from trauma and prevent health conditions and other poor outcomes associated with trauma and ACEs. The health care system is also central in supporting the greatest...
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State Policy Guide on Preventing and Healing Childhood Trauma
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. --Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa Every child needs access to the opportunities that prepare him or her to compete in the changing economies and realities of the 21st century. Unfortunately, for too many children, exposure to violence and traumatic events in the home, school, or community can affect them throughout their entire lives . We are thrilled to release this brand new...
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State profiles for 50 states and District of Columbia
Hi, Everyone: We’ve made a first pass at gathering highlights of ACEs initiatives in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Within the text, below, are links to the individual posted profiles for each state. If you see corrections or want to make additions, we’d love that. Just add them in the comments section of that individual post. Instructions are at the top of each individual post. We will be turning those posts into living profiles that, with your help and input, we’ll keep...
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States Produce a Bumper Crop of ACEs bills in 2017—nearly 40 bills in 18 states
A scan done in March by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) through StateNet of bills introduced in 2017 that specifically include adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the text produced a surprising volume of bills (close of 40) in a large number of states (18). A scan done a year ago produced less than a handful. NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves both state legislators and their staffs. The shear volume of bills in so many states represents a promising...
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“Strategic Advocacy: Winning Policy Change without Crossing the Lobbying Line”: Webinar summary & links
(l to r) Kelly Hardy, Allen Mattison, Jeff Hild _____________________________________________________ The stakes in today's public policy debates are as high as they've ever been. So, how does a nonprofit organization separate legitimate and perceived barriers to find the sweet spot for maximum engagement and not cross the lobbying line? The three panelists on the “Strategic Advocacy: Winning Policy Change without Crossing the Lobbying Line ” webinar held March 14, 2019, covered the fine...
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Suicide Prevention Bill Includes ACEs!
"These types of demographics and statistics are unacceptable." That's what Senator Windy Boy, sponsor of Montana Legislative House Bill 118 , said in regards to suicide rates in Montana. “We’re ranked among the highest in suicide nationwide,” said Windy Boy. “Indian Country is ranked the highest in Montana." He continued, "This is the first step in reducing that,” adding that he wants to thank the governor and the Legislature for their support in “making sure this was a priority in this...
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Suicides among nurses are on the rise. Here's why one of America's fastest-growing jobs is facing a major crisis. (businessinsider.com)
Researchers from the University of California at San Diego recently conducted what they said is the first nationwide investigation into nurse suicides in more than 20 years. They found that both male and female nurses had higher rates of suicide than men and women in the US . The findings are consistent with the increasing rates of suicide across the country. The US suicide rate has risen in recent years, increasing by 28% in the past two decades , to the highest it's been since World War II...
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Summit: Oklahoma’s youngest, most vulnerable children suffer more trauma than those in any other state in the nation [tulsaworld.com]
State leaders in education, criminal justice and health came together Tuesday to begin to confront an alarming, new statistic: Oklahoma’s youngest, most vulnerable children suffer more trauma than those in any other state in the nation. A summit titled, “It Starts Here: Trauma-Informed Instruction,” brought thousands of educators from across the state to hear from national experts on childhood trauma and what brain science reveals about what teachers can do to help students both learn more...
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Tackling Patients’ Social Problems Can Cut Health Costs (californiahealthline.org)
Inspired by the way police departments mapped crime data to detect “hot spots,” family physician Dr. Jeffrey Brenner dug into ambulance records and emergency department data to show how high-cost patients were shuttling between city hospitals. “In America, we’re medicalizing social problems and we’re criminalizing social problems, and we’re wasting huge amounts of public resources,” Brenner said. “We have the wrong tools to solve the wrong problem.” To steer patients away from expensive...
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Telehealth Is Improving Health Care in Rural Areas (hbr.org)
Intermountain Healthcare is addressing the pressing needs of people who live in rural areas through telehealth, which uses secure video and audio technology to connect care providers in smaller health care facilities with specialists in large hospitals. The results we’ve experienced hold promise for rural communities throughout America. Patients are frequently transferred to distant acute care centers to receive specialized care. Local caregivers don’t get the opportunity to learn from...
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Tennessee 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Tennessee. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input,...
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Colorado Steps up Quality Assurance Requirements for Serving Youth with Complex Needs (cmhnetwork.org)
Thanks to our colleagues at the National Wraparound Initiative for bringing this to our attention. This new bill in Colorado requires screening to identify youth with complex needs, establishes wraparound to serve them, and blends funding across agencies to make it happen! A model for other states to emulate! Child And Youth Behavioral Health System Enhancements Concerning enhancements to behavioral health services and policy coordination for children and youth, and, in connection therewith,...
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Connecticut 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Connecticut. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input,...
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Could where you live influence how long you live? (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
How does where we live affect our opportunity to be healthy? For the first time in our history, the United States is raising a generation of children who may live sicker and shorter lives than their parents. Reversing this trend will of course depend on healthy choices by each of us. But not everyone in America has the same opportunities to be healthy. According to the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78.6...
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CTIPP-CAN hosts conference call with presentation by Laura Porter on social investment bonds to fund trauma-informed programs
Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 2:00 EST, Laura Porter will present on the use of social investment bonds to fund the implementation of trauma-informed programs as part of a Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice-Community Advocacy Network ( CTIPP-CAN ) conference call. In an announcement from CTIPP-CAN organizer, Dan Press says “this is a novel, challenging and potentially invaluable approach for overcoming the problem many of us see –local and state governments unwilling or unable to...
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Cycle of Risk: The Intersection of Poverty, Violence, and Trauma (issuelab.org)
We make the case that the conditions that foster violence and the conditions that perpetuate poverty are interconnected and reinforce each other; we further show the traumatic effects of violence -- and how trauma drives both poverty and violence. We then examine how violence has been used to enforce systems of racial oppression and how communities of color are disparately impacted by violence today. The conditions that perpetuate poverty and the conditions that foster violence often...
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Delaware 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Delaware. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input, we’ll...
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Despite Prevalent Trauma, From School Shootings to the Opioid Epidemic, Few States Have Policies to Fully Address Student Needs, Study Finds (the74million.org)
Despite the pervasive effect of stressful experiences — from mass school shootings to the opioid epidemic — on student performance, only 11 states encourage or require staff training on the effects of trauma. Half of states have policies on suicide prevention. And just one state, Vermont, requires a school nurse to be available daily at every school campus. Those are among the key findings of a report released Thursday by the nonprofit Child Trends, which found that most states have failed...
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Director's Note about tonight's PBS broadcast of Broken Places (4/6)
The film trailer is available here. Learn more about Broken Places via this review written by @Laurie Udesky (ACEs Connection Staff) entitled, Documentary Broken Places uses archival footage to tell stories of ACEs and resilience over time . Tonight's Airing: Check your local listing time here. Film clips and more viewer information can be found on the PBS website .
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Doctors group warns of health risks for migrant children separated from parents (thehill.com)
Medical experts are cautioning that there are long-term health risks for migrant children who are separated from their parents, including "irreplaceable harm" to those children's lifelong development. “[It can] cause irreparable harm to lifelong development by disrupting a child’s brain architecture,” American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) President Colleen Kraft told BuzzFeed News this week. “Immigration has become so politicized. We would really like people to sit back instead and think of...
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Durbin, Capito, colleagues introduce bipartisan, bicameral legislation to address childhood trauma [Office of Senator Durbin of IL]
The following is a press release issued by the office of U.S. Senator Durbin (D-IL) on Monday, June 10, announcing the introduction of bipartisan bicameral legislation that builds on last year’s opioid legislation SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act and recommendations from a recent GAO report. A link to the bill and other information will be provided as soon as possible. In the meantime, an earlier draft of the bill and a section by section are attached to this post. For Immediate...
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Education, inspiration, and action—Maryland lawmakers take deeper dive into ACEs science and how it informs policy
While members of the Maryland General Assembly did not dominate the Dec. 13th “MGA ACEs Roundtable” in numbers, they commanded the room and enlivened a focus on how ACEs science can inform current and future policies considered by elected officials.
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Eleven state profiles feature ACEs-science data, initiatives
One of the resources shared with participants in the Sept. 13-14 convening of First Spouses in Milwaukee to address trauma was a series of state information sheets that featured data on ACEs prevalence and ACEs/trauma-informed/resilience-building initiatives. These one-pagers provided a succinct summary of state highlights on trauma that in some instances were well known to the First Spouses but for others, provided new information. In partnership with state trauma leaders, ACEs Connection...
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Energizing a Trauma-Informed Response to COVID-19: An Opening to Seize within Current Federal Funding
Photo: Marlo Nash with her grandfather, Grandpa Johnny In 1918, my grandfather lost both of his parents to the Spanish flu within a week of each other. He was seven when his mother died, had his 8 th birthday the following week, then lost his father. Grandpa Johnny was separated from his three siblings and placed into the abusive home of a relative. At age 12, he escaped to live on the streets until he found his own placement with a couple as their house servant. The most he ever said about...
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Exploring Instability and Children's Well-Being: Insights from a Dialogue among Practitioners, Policymakers and Researchers
Concern is growing about the damage that instability can do to children's healthy development. However it has emerged separately across different domains, with little focus on the pervasive and interconnected nature of the issue or on possible...
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Feeling Blue? Oregon Students Allowed To Take 'Mental Health Days' (npr.org)
Oregon's suicide rate has outpaced the national average for the past three decades. In an effort to combat stigma around mental illness, four local teen activists took matters into their own hands and championed a proposed state law. Oregon schools will now excuse student absences for mental or behavioral health reasons, as with regular sick days. In other words, if a student is feeling down, they can stay home from school without getting docked for missing classes. The law, signed by Gov.
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Florida 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Florida. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input, we’ll...
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Florida Governor's Wife announces mental health aid for Panhandle after Hurricane Michael
Photo credit: Florida's Governor's Office The story below illustrates the urgent need to proactively build psychological and psycho-social-spiritual--Transformational Resilience--for climate change related disasters. It describes how the mental health impacts of these disasters often becomes most acute months after a disaster occurs, which is long after mental health first aid and other disaster mental health services have ended. Prevention is the only solution, and the focus must be on...
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Funding Trauma-Informed Community Networks - We are #TraumaInformedVA
“I know from personal experience that trauma can be life-changing, but I didn’t know that talking about trauma could change my life. And the lives of others,” said Theresa Caldwell, member of the Southside (TICN) Trauma-Informed Community Network , which is supported by the Crater Health District under the leadership of Dr. Alton Hart and Brian Little. The Network works to foster healthy communities through disease prevention and control, health promotion, environmental protection, and...
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GAO report on challenges that states face in addressing child trauma
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on May 22 on the challenges that states face in their efforts to support children affected by trauma. The findings were based in part on interviewing state and local officials in six states (Colorado, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington, and Wisconsin) along with questionnaires to 16 states. The request for the report was made by two Illinois members of Congress, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Danny Davis, and...
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Georgia 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Georgia. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input, we’ll...
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Georgia ACEs Data Released
We have data! In 2016, the Georgia Department of Public Health, with funding provided by the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services' Prevention and Community Support Section, added the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) module to their annual Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (BRFSS). The preliminary summary of the results of that data collection have been released in the Georgia Data Summary report. An additional full-length report is still in development, but the...
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Gov. Hutchinson proclaims Oct. 13 as ACEs Awareness and Action Day in Arkansas
First Lady Susan Hutchinson, who attended the recent First Spouses Trauma-Informed conference in Wisconsin , attended a photo op with Gov. Asa Hutchinson to commemorate the Adverse Childhood Experiences Awareness and Action Day proclamation for Oct. 13. (The proclamation is attached to this post.) First row (from left): Rev. Belinda Price, Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church; Dr. Alan Mease, Arkansas Department of Health; First Lady Susan Hutchinson; Gov. Asa Hutchinson; Janie Ginocchio,...
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Gov. Wolf: Office of Advocacy and Reform Announces Plan to Build a Trauma-Informed Pennsylvania [phila.gov]
The Office of Advocacy and Reform (OAR), established by Governor Tom Wolf’s 2019 executive order to protect Pennsylvania’s vulnerable populations, today announced the launch of a volunteer think tank comprised of 25 experts representing a diversity of fields and backgrounds who will develop a plan to make Pennsylvania a trauma-informed state. “The people of Pennsylvania are compassionate, thoughtful and resilient. We take care of each other, and that drive to protect our families and our...
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Governor Carney Announces Trauma-Informed Initiatives [news.delaware.gov]
WILMINGTON, Del . – Governor John Carney on Tuesday announced two new initiatives from the Family Services Cabinet Council to implement Executive Order 24 , which launched efforts to make Delaware a trauma-informed state. The Family Services Cabinet Council – a cabinet-level group reestablished by Governor Carney in February 2017 to coordinate public and private services for Delaware families – will promote Trauma Awareness Month throughout Delaware during May 2019 and launch the...
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Governor Carney Signs Executive Order Making Delaware a Trauma-Informed State [Delaware.gov]
Governor Carney on Wednesday signed Executive Order #24 making Delaware a trauma-informed state. This Order provides direction for the Family Services Cabinet Council to help mitigate the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and build resilience in children, adults and communities. ACEs can include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; physical or emotional neglect; household dysfunction, including substance abuse, untreated mental illness, or incarceration of a household member;...
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Governor Declares May 3-9 Resilience Week in Virginia
As Greater Richmond SCAN , in collaboration with members from the Greater Richmond Trauma-Informed Community Network and the 26 Trauma-Informed Community Networks across the state , began planning for the first annual Resilience Week Virginia, we certainly did not imagine we would be celebrating in the midst of a global pandemic. We worked to adapt activities and events to be done virtually as it became clear that the week, May 3-9, would take place in the midst of these strange new...
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Governor Newsom announces Nadine Burke Harris to be CA's first-ever surgeon general
Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the appointment of Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, a national leader in pediatric medicine, to serve as California’s first-ever Surgeon General. There is overwhelming consensus in the scientific community around early warning signs and childhood determinants of serious health outcomes. As California's Surgeon General, Dr. Burke Harris will urge policymakers at every level of government and leaders across the state to consider the social determinants of health,...
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Handle With Care funding is part of federal opioid legislation [WVMetroNews.com]
By Shauna Johnson in News | October 17, 2018 at 11:25AM CHARLESTON, W.Va. — President Donald Trump is expected to soon sign into law the 2018 SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the comprehensive, bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing the opioid epidemic across the United States on many fronts. Included in it is funding to support programs that offer trauma-informed care for young people, specifically programs like Handle With Care which got its start in West Virginia and has...
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Hawaii 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Hawaii. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input, we’ll...
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Hearing in U.S. House Education and Labor Early Childhood Subcommittee addresses intersection of trauma and education
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris (l) and Karina Chicote, Churchill Fellow from western Australia meet after congressional hearing After watching the hearing on a monitor in the overflow room, Karina Chicote, a Churchill Fellow from western Australia, and I hustled to the hearing room in hopes of speaking to the lead witness, Nadine Burke Harris, MD, the first Surgeon General of the State of California. She was deep in conversation with others, including a young woman who wanted to tell her how...